Practice ammunition has been in use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,074, assigned to Martin Electronics, describes a practice projectile 10 containing a powder dye charge 14 (see FIG. 1). After the projectile is fired, the nose cone 11 bonded to the projectile 12 ejects the dye at the point of impact. It appears that this projectile is limited to day time use.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. RE40,482, assigned to Nico-Pyrotechnik Hanns-Juergen, describes a practice projectile in which a marking agent is contained in a frangible hood at the head of the projectile. The marking agent consists of two chemical components contained in separate, adjacent compartments. These compartments share a common partition that has predetermined thin regions. When fired, the acceleration forces on the projectile break these thin wall regions to allow the two chemical components to react and give a chemo-luminescent light. The luminous light is emitted through the transparent hood while the projectile is in flight. Upon striking the target, the hood bursts to scatter the luminous chemical dye, thereby making the strike point optically visible. It appears that this projectile is limited to night time use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,638, also assigned to Nico-Pyrotechnik Hanns-Juergen, describes an improved projectile 50 that is usable for both day and night time use. In this projectile, two chemically active marking materials are separately contained in two containers 55, which are placed side-by-side to each (see FIG. 2). These containers 55 are then encased in an outer container 56. The outer container 56 is embedded in a dye powder 54 disposed inside a front cavity. When the projectile 50 strikes a target, the front cavity bursts and the containers 55,56 become broken; as a result, the dye powder 54 is released and the two chemically active components react to give out light. It appears that the chemically active components mix and react at the point of impact and the chemical reaction may not give an optimal luminous effect.
It is appreciated that larger quantities of projectiles are used in training than in service; as such, cost becomes a very important factor in providing training projectiles. Coupled with limitations of known projectiles, it can thus be seen that there exists a need for other types of training projectiles to meet current and future challenges.